


Chapter 1: Welcome to Mafia Town

by Ina (CosmicKouhai)



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 23:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21787303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicKouhai/pseuds/Ina
Summary: The first part of a 4(?) arc au where storybook rifts happen during the boss fights and each have their own little twist :)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 82





	1. Act 1: Something Fishy (Pt. 1)

There were at least a million better ways Hat Kid thought she could have spent her morning, maybe even a million and one, but here she was, kicking the butt of some old guy dressed as a corny chef and wielding knives that looked like halves of a rolling pin. Could this get any more cartoony? She sighed as her potion explosive hit its mark for the last time, finally scaring off the big bad Mafia Boss who had sworn he'd take her down. Now that seemed to be little more than a joke.

"Heeelloooooooo! Up heeeeeeeeere," Mu called from where she was still dangling above. "I get that you're celebrating your victory 'n all, but maybe, just  _ maybe _ you'd like to help me down first? OOP-"

Another potion exploded over her head and burned through the rope. Hat Kid grinned brightly as the older blonde landed in her outstretched arms, though Mu's response was about as unamused as they come. "Well," she gestured to the ropes, "this is the part where you  _ untie me _ ."

"Oh!" Hat Kid set her down carefully, undoing the ropes as fast as she could. "Sorry! Are you alright?"

"Oh, I'm fine," she waved her hand, wincing a bit at how stiff they'd gotten while she was bound. "What about you, Ms. Kick Butt? You're the one who did all the fighting."

"Heh, he was a piece of cake," Hat Kid beamed cheerfully, though her back sang a different tune in the form of snaps, crackles, and pops. Mu raised her eyebrow at her. "He might've hit me a couple of times, hehe...but I'm ok! Really!"

Mu watched skeptically as she stretched and ran a circle around her. “Eh, you seem fine enough. Anyway, did you get your junk back?” Hat Kid nodded and held it out for her to see, definitely not expecting her to snatch it out of her hands. “So, what’s so special about these things anyway?” She tossed it up and down in one hand, chuckling at Hat Kid’s concerned expression. “Relax, relax. I’m not gonna drop it-” Despite all the circumstances that would have said she would, Mustache Girl actually didn’t drop the timepiece, however something else did fall. A high pitched whizzing sound echoed overhead as a stray sandbag from the fight dropped from the rafters. Mu was the first to notice, and with quick thinking and even faster movement- “HAT KID, LOOK OUT!”

Hat Kid barely had time to register the loose bits of sand that fell onto her head before Mustache Girl tackled her. She let out a surprised yelp as she hit the ground and skidded to a stop near the other end of the stage, flinching again when she heard the loud  **_THWUNK_ ** of the sandbag. It was a close call, and boy was she glad Mu had seen it coming. She sure as heck hadn’t been paying attention anymore.

It took her a second to sit upright, but the second she had, the stage began overflowing with light. Hat Kid shielded her eyes with her arm, squinting out into the center of the stage where the light poured out, but she couldn’t make heads or tails of what was going on until the light finally cleared away.

“Oh no…”

Lying on the ground was none other than Mu, though she seemed fine all things considered. What really concerned Hat Kid was the brightly colored, purple rift spinning quietly over Mustache Girl’s head. Mu glanced up at her, rubbing her chest and grimacing as she felt around for the shards of glass and splinters of wood she had made when she landed on the timepiece, but whatever injuries should have been there, were nowhere to be seen. The same could be said for the timepiece.

“What the heck,” she exclaimed, patting herself down before realizing she really had come out completely unscathed. “I thought I fell on top of it. Where’d it- go…Hat Kid?” Her eyes followed the younger child’s gaze to the orb floating behind her. “WHOA! What is  _ THAT _ ?”

“It’s a time rift,” she groaned and pulled herself to her feet. 

“What’s it do?”

“Create more work for me, ugh…” 

Mustache Girl hardly paid her griping any mind. Her gaze was entirely transfixed on the rift. Honeyed eyes reflected the swimming lights as purples, whites, and yellows danced across her vision. It was truly a sight to behold, and it came as no surprise that her first instinct would be to touch it.

“NO-” Hat Kid ran up to her, grabbing her shoulder just as her fingertips brushed the rift’s surface, but she was too late. 

Mustache Girl slipped through her fingers, vanishing into the light just a second before Hat Kid could pull her away. A slew of alien curses were muttered under the child’s breath as she fixed her hat and backpack. Time rifts were hard enough to deal with already, and now she had to deal with Mu too. She groaned as she thought of all the trouble she would get into if her elders found out an alien civilian got into a time rift made by one of her timepieces, but the imaginary lecture would have to wait. She had to find Mu. So with all her gear ready to go, Hat Kid backed up and leapt into the rift, following the blonde into the unknown.

Time stood completely still for a moment, and then all at once, the world went black.

  
\--  
  


The first thing that hit her upon landing in the rift was the overwhelming stench of raw fish. Hat Kid had barely been inside for a minute before she was pinching her nose and trying to hold her breath, anything to keep the gross air out, but having the lungs of a kid made it pretty difficult to last. She grumbled to herself as she reluctantly tried to get used to the torture of stinky fish air but perked up quickly when she spotted the first rift door already open up ahead. She didn’t even have to look around for pons! Excitement got the best of her, and she sprinted full speed towards the door only to be caught completely off-guard when a Mafia goon suddenly stepped into her path, and the two of them collided.

“Oof. Watch where you are going, little hatted child.” He scowled as she backed away. “Can you not see Mafia is trying to enjoy vacation?” 

Hat Kid blinked and then looked back around her at the dreary conditions of the ship. “You call this a vacation?”

“In rift, sky is not as pleasant as in reality.”

Now he had her attention. She raised an eyebrow at the good, cocking her head slightly as she questioned him. “You...know that this is a rift?”

“Should Mafia not?” He shrugged when she shook her head. “Well Mafia does. This is time rift, scary swirly ball of light. Makes you relive past, yes?”

“It does, yeah, but- you shouldn’t  _ know _ that.”

“It is fine, hatted child. If Mafia were real, Mafia would  _ not _ know of this place.”

“So you’re a creation of the rift?” She walked around him, even poking him a few times before her eyes lit up. “That’s so cool! My teachers said purple rifts didn’t usually create...uh, senti-snetial-semtinesse?”

“Sentience?”

“Yeah, that!”

“That would give Mafia free will, but all Mafia can do is kick ball around and chew giant roll of meat.” He pointed his thumb to the massive meat bone in the front of the ship. “Is simple life, but lonely life.”

Hat Kid frowned at his solemn expression and gently patted his hand. “Why do you stay here then? The rift door is right there.”

“Mafia is to live out vacation on boat alone. Must pretend to watch for land that will never come, and answer questions of little girls who travel through. Mafia cannot leave, only you and little hooded girl pass.”

“Mu?! You saw her?”

“She ran through before you. Didn’t even stop to say hello. Such ill manners for a child!” He paused for a moment before smiling the softest smile she’d ever seen on a Mafia goon before and held up a finger to signal for her to wait. He walked around to the back of the boat, and a series of increasingly strange noises erupted back there. Toy squeaks, deflating balloons, a loud metal clunk, mouse traps going off, and a piano falling. Hat Kid was beginning to think he wasn’t going to come back when he finally stepped around the corner once more and signaled for her to hold out her hands. “This is for you,” he beamed. “Little hatted child listened to story. You deserve reward for kindness.”

“Wuh-” She looked down at her hands, a bit surprised to be receiving a gift, but of all the things he could have given her, this was probably the most useful. “A rift pon!”

“Little hatted child does not need it here, but there is more to rift than meets eye. Best to hold onto it tight. Save for when you really need it.”

Hat Kid bounced in place excitedly for a moment before tucking the pon away and giving the goon a quick hug as thanks. He patted her head tenderly, a warm smile crossing his face and he gently nudged her towards the rift door, a silent reminder that she needed to get going. Hat Kid jumped up, landing with a flourish on the edge of the door just long enough to flash him one last smile and wave before diving into the next level.


	2. Act 1: Something Fishy (pt. 2)

A small flash of light burst in front of Hat Kid’s eyes as she was spit out into the new level, which would have been fine if it hadn’t chucked her straight out of the sky. “WHAAAAA-” She screamed as she rapidly opened her umbrella and slapped on the hover badge, thanking the stars above that she’d decided to get that badge after all. In the safety of her slow descent, she took a moment to observe the town below, almost excited to see what wild concoction the rift would stir up for her to explore, but she never would have guessed it would be this. 

She was definitely still in Mafia Town. The same large buildings, the fountain, the coffee shops and juice bars, even the giant slides by the beach were still there. But the number of differences were staggering too. There was no pollution, no trash in the streets, the docks weren’t damaged, and the walls had no graffiti. Where there were usually large banners depicting Mafia faces and their poor taste in cuisine were beautiful murals or small shop ads for places she’d never heard of on the island. Even wilder still, as she was drifting down, the large platform that usually housed Mafia HQ didn’t have the large building at all, and instead, it housed a large grassy play park where several children were currently at play and where she spotted the rift door. Needless to say, her jaw dropped.

“This is...Mafia Town?” She looked at the ground that she was slowly advancing on and watched the people in the bustling streets. Not a single Mafia goon was amongst the crowd, but there were far more people walking about than she’d ever seen on the island. “What’s going on here?”

She shifted her umbrella’s position, guiding herself over to a rooftop near the slides where she landed and quickly put away her umbrella. If she had seen correctly during her descent, she was going to have to find 5 rift pons. She groaned at the daunting number, but remembered that she only actually needed to find 4, and if she could find Mu quickly, she’d even have a partner to help her look. The realization that she had to find Mu first either way suddenly dawned on her though, and her expression soured once more. Finding a native to the island could be difficult since she probably knew tons of secret routes and places to hide, and even though Mafia Town’s size was relatively small for a town, it was still a lot of ground for one kid to cover on her own.

Not really having a choice in the matter, Hat Kid set off towards the slides. She figured she could make her way to the top and peer out at the world below once again, only this time she’d be paying attention and searching for Mu. Thanks to the ladders, it didn’t take a whole lot of effort to make it to the top, and boy was she glad she did. The view from there was incredible. A warm breeze picked up, tossing her hair and cape to the side as she gripped the railing and peered out at the glistening ocean beyond the island. The sun hung directly overhead, its bright rays bouncing off of the waves and leaving the water’s surface sparkling and clear. Without the thick clouds of smoke and fish fumes that normally plagued the island, Hat Kid finally felt like she could breathe. The only problem was, she didn’t have the time.

Pouting ever so slightly, she got back to work, scanning the ground below for as far as her eyes could see, but there was no sign of Mustache Girl anywhere. She crossed her arms and huffed, stomping over to the longer and taller slide as she realized she was just going to have to get down there and look for herself. She paused at the mouth of the slide though, peering down into the yellow tube with a mischievous grin. Oh, the tragedy. She’d have to do something fun in order to get down fast. She hopped inside giddily, letting gravity do its thing as she plummeted towards the ground, but about halfway down the slide, something flew against her chest, making her shriek the rest of the ride down. 

“EW EW EW EW EW-” she cried as she landed in the sand and immediately began swatting at whatever she’d run into, certain that it was a bug or a bird or something. But upon looking at it, she deadpanned. “What the heck was a rift pon doing in there?” She picked it up without another word, blushing furiously when she realized half the people on the beach were staring at her questioningly. It wasn’t every day a kid drew that kind of a scene, panicking over a toy ball. 

She huffed and turned away, quickly pocketing the pon before darting off. Her face stayed beat red for a good while as she traversed the island, climbing up and down the rocks and steps and running along the paths. She was pretty sure she'd looped the island twice by the time she ran into the docks, and a deep groan escaped her. Despite how much of the town she had covered, this was actually the first she'd seen of the docks, and she couldn't help but wonder how many other spots she'd missed on her last couple of laps around. 

Hat Kid slumped against a wall and slid down, resting in the shade for a moment while she tried to rethink her plan, but behind in a rift left her without most of her usual gear. All she had on her were her hats, badges, and umbrellas, and none of those could help her track down Mu. She was almost hopelessly lost in thought when a faint shimmering sound registered in her ears, making her glance up. She had to squint with the sun's rays being as bright as they were, but not too far ahead of her, hovering over a small row boat between the docks, was yet another rift pon. Jumping to her feet, she darted down one of the docks, looking out at the small path of boats that led to the one with the pon and hardly hesitating to hop across them. Several of the people on shore watched with mixed amazement and concern as she ran out further and further across the boats, until finally:

"Gotcha!" She nabbed the rift pon from where it had been floating and tucked it away for safekeeping. "Three down, two to go."

She pumped her fists and jumped from side to side excitedly, earning her a few claps and cheers from the crowd she'd accidentally gained. She greeted them with a tip of her hat and a bow, then scampered off to continue her search, spirits higher now that she was a pon closer to freedom.

Finding the pon had given her a second wind, sparing her just enough energy to climb another set of stairs and search one of the higher levels of Mafia Town before she wore herself out again. At the rate she was going, she would never find Mu in the rift. She shook the thought from her head and kept walking, meandering aimlessly in one direction until a glimmer of light caught her eye.

Not too far ahead, resting in the pot of a large potted plant was the fourth rift pon, still slightly damp and glistening from being watered alongside the plant. Hat Kid picked up the pon and nearly topped over from exhaustion and the heat. Her legs ached more than they ever had in her whole life, and right then, she would have done anything to get a cold drink. It was almost as if the rift answered her wish. After putting the pon away, she glanced up, trying to figure out where she was when she saw the sign overhead saying that she was at a coffee shop. Hat Kid had stuck her tongue out at the idea of coffee, but then remembered that most of the time those places served other drinks as well. It was with that line of reasoning that she dragged herself inside.

The coffee shop owner watched her silently as she climbed up onto one of the barstools and laid her head on the counter, letting out a defeated sigh. She looked completely worn out, almost as if she’d done laps around the island. He silently grabbed a glass off the shelf and walked over to her, setting it down with a gentle clink before leaning against the counter on his elbows.

“Well little lady, it looks like you could use a drink.” Hat Kid nodded pathetically but perked up when he slid a tiny menu in front of her and waited for her to point at something. “Take your pick, sweetheart. Ooh, chocolate milk, huh?” His smile widened, making the creases around his eye deepen as his face lit up. “You’ve got good taste.”

For a good while the only sounds in the space were the distant noises of the beach and the clinking of glasses as the man made her drink. Hat Kid waited patiently, closing her eyes as a gentle sea breeze blew through the open windows and cooled her off. This Mafia Town was much nicer. It didn’t reek of fish or garbage, and no one wanted to beat her to a pulp. She almost wanted to just kick back and relax, but the sound of her drink being set in front of her snapped her out of the delusion.

“Oh, thank you,” she whispered, albeit a bit hoarsely as she reached for the glass and started sipping the straw. 

“My pleasure, sweetheart. But if you don’t mind my asking, what’s got you so down in the dumps,” he asked, pulling up a stool of his own to sit across from her. “I don’t get too many unhappy customers around here. It’s my responsibility to make sure you leave with that frown upside down.”

Hat Kid let out a soft laugh as he purposefully pushed his fingers against the corners of his mouth and made his already large smile even bigger. “I can’t find my friend,” she admitted after a moment. “She ran off, uh, while we were playing, and I haven’t seen her since.” Not the whole truth, but she didn’t need to confuse him with talk about the rift. “I’ve looked all over the place too…”

“That  _ is _ troublesome,” he nodded sympathetically, eyes closed in deep thought before he got back up to stop the beeping of a fresh pot of coffee. “I know most of the kids on this island have little spots they like to go. I know what most of them are too. What’s your friend’s name? Maybe I can help you find them.”

“Her name’s Mustache Girl!” Hat Kid brightened up at the idea he might be able to help. “But, I just call her Mu.”

"Mustache Girl?" He looked surprised, lowering the coffee pot back onto the counter and adjusting his glasses to better see the girl. "Why, she's practically my granddaughter! Not biologically, of course, but I'm close friends with her parents. She stays with me when they go on business trips, hee hee. She's been staying here quite a lot lately, or at least, she's supposed to be. That Mu, she has such an adventurous spirit, doesn't she?" 

Hat Kid smiled as she caught the twinkle in the old man's eye as he gushed about Mu. It was easy to see that he really loved and cherished her as if she were his own.

"She likes to roam about most of the time. Always finding some place to hide or someone to help. I should probably worry about her more, but," he chuckled and shook his head, setting a cookie down for Hat Kid while he refilled her glass of milk, "the locals here are all friendly. Even the tourists are usually kind. I can't believe that anyone would ever lay a finger on her to do harm. Certainly not here."

Hat Kid opened her mouth to speak, words of protest about how awful the Mafia are rising up on the tip of her tongue, but she quickly remembers that she had seen none since she’d arrived. It was while she chewed on the cookie that she fully concluded that there really must not be any Mafia on the island, and that perhaps this was a point before they’d ever arrived. With as nice as everything seemed, the concept didn’t sound too far fetched. Her only concern was how everything had ended up as horribly as it did. It was really a shame the coffee man wouldn’t have been able to answer.

“Say, her parents are meant to drop by today. The three of them like to meet at a little cove on the coast. It’s not too far from the market, I think. If you really need to find her, I bet you could catch her there!”

Her face lit up with recognition as he described the spot. She’d completely forgotten about Mu’s hideout. Of course she’d go there. Hat Kid chugged the last of her milk, wiping off the milkstache it left behind onto her sleeve before trying to fish out her pons to pay the man, but he stopped her before she could.

“Oh, don’t worry about that, sweetheart. It’s on the house!” He beamed. “Any friend of Mu’s is welcome to get a snack here, no charge. Feel free to stop by again if you ever need to, ya hear?”

“Thank you!” Hat Kid hopped up and carried her trash over to the trash can, careful not to spill any crumbs that would make his job harder. Even if he was just a rift character, she didn’t want to cause him any problems.

With one final wave and a cheerful grin, Hat Kid dashed out the door, making a beeline for Mu’s hideout.


	3. Act 1: Something Fishy (pt. 3)

“The cave. Why didn’t  _ I _ think of that!” Hat Kid smacked her forehead as she headed back towards the beach. That place made so much sense, and yet she’d completely neglected to look there earlier.

It didn’t take her long to find her way to the marketplace where she weaseled her way through the heavy crowd of shoppers doing their daily runs. Hat Kid’s focus drifted a couple of times to the overstocked booths full of handmade items and goods. The rich scent of freshly baked bread and pastries nearly lured her in, but by the time she found the booth, she was already at the end of the market, and she knew she really needed to keep moving. She was silently pouting to herself for not being able to enjoy the rift as she clambered down the rocky ledges and made her way to the sandy strip that led to the cave, but she didn’t have long to dwell on those thoughts.

“Aaaand up!”

“Higher! Higher!”

“Higher?!”

“Higher!!”

Hat Kid ducked behind a rock and peered around it’s edge as she listened to a conversation taking place between a man and a little girl. The child was giggling and clapping cheerfully as her father tossed her into the air, eliciting a sharp squeal of delight every time he let go and caught her.

“Again!”

She couldn’t help but smile at the scene as he happily obliged to her wishes. A young woman sat on a blanket in the shade behind them, grinning somewhat nervously as he continued to throw the kid further and further into the air.

“Not so high, dear,” she pleaded with a timid laugh. 

“Aw! Don’t worry, I’ve got her! Don’t I, Mu?” He caught the kid once again and pulled her close, planting a big sappy kiss on her forehead and making her shriek with laughter again.

Hat Kid’s eyes widened as the name registered, and she immediately started to acknowledge all the similarities the kid had to her missing friend. Her bright yellow eyes, sunshine blonde hair, her little cheek marks, and the first inklings of a mustache on her upper lip. The father set the much younger image of Mu down on the blanket by her mother and started pulling out the contents of a picnic basket. 

"Hat Kid?" 

She jumped and whirled around to face the voice, surprised to find Mustache Girl standing behind her, rubbing her arm and keeping her usually bold gaze set solemnly on the floor. "Mu," she cried happily and hugged her, "where have you been? I looked all over for you!"

"I've been here, stupid. Where else would I go?" Hat Kid frowned at the insult, but Mu's sniffling shocked her far more. "You're really bad at hide n' seek, aren't you?"

"Are you ok?" She held her at arm's length, letting go after a moment to fish through her bag for tissues to hand her. Mu nodded and snatched a few of them away, blowing her nose loudly before uttering a hushed thanks. Hat Kid scowled at her, sensing that something was up and that Mu wasn't telling her everything. "Is it about them?" She nodded her head back towards the family at the cave.

Mustache Girl looked back at them, smiling and laughing and full of joy as her parents held her and she snuck bites of their food. She only barely managed to catch herself in time to wipe her eyes before Hat Kid saw, correcting herself with an annoyed grunt as she swiveled on her heel to head away from the scene. Hat Kid stole one last glance at the family before following suit, and plopping down beside Mu when her trek drew to a close near one of the small waterfalls where the two of them sit in silence for a long while.

“Mu-” Hat Kid winced as she was given a glare. “What’s wrong?”

“Just forget it! It doesn’t really matter,” she huffed and crossed her arms, resting her eyes for a minute while kicking at the water below. “Hat Kid, what’s going on in here? The Mafia- they’re just- gone! Not that I’m  _ complaining _ , but everyone else is back too! And you saw me! It’s like- well, it’s almost as if we’ve gone back in  _ time _ !”

Hat Kid hesitated for a moment, trying to figure out how to explain things to her, or if she even should. The truth was a dangerous thing for just anyone to know, but Hat Kid decided that ultimately, Mu should hear it. “This is a time rift,” she began quietly, taking her time to explain it at a pace anyone could understand. “They form when a timepiece breaks and usually base themselves off of the location they broke in or the people they broke on. I think this one formed off of you. You said you landed on the timepiece, right?”

“I thought I did, but it was gone when I got up.”

“That’s because it turned into all of this.” Hat Kid gestured to the world around them and waited for Mu to look at her once more. “Right now, we’re in a purple rift. These are some of the most dangerous rifts, because they’re much bigger and really unpredictable compared to other rifts. These are also the most prone to collapse.”

“What?!” Mu nearly jumped up, but Hat Kid grabbed her arm and held her in place.

“Don’t worry. If this rift was unstable, we’d know by now.”

Mu glanced around at the Mafia Town before her in a state of disbelief, but at the same time, she considered the kid might be right. How else could they be there? Unless it was all some sick dream, she couldn’t imagine there was a better and readily available explanation for what she saw. Even so, it was a lot to take in, and Hat Kid wasn’t even done spilling information.

“I know it’s pretty confusing, but there’s no need to worry. The rift is stable, so we have plenty of time to get through it. All we have to do is find these rift pon things.” She held one of the ones she’d collected up for Mu to see. “We need one more to get out of this level and go to the next one.”

“Next one? What is this? A video game?!” 

“K-kind of, I guess,” she admitted awkwardly, knowing there was no way she’d be able to explain rift logic to Mu. The science behind it was honestly too complex even for her. It was best to just accept it for what it was and leave it at that. 

“Ugh! Well, how many levels are there? I don’t want to be in this stupid rift anymore!”

“I...I really don’t know.” Hat Kid frowned as she turned her attention to the sky. “Like I said, these rifts are unpredictable. There could be one level, there could be five, there could be a hundred.”

“A HUNDRED?!”

“Ah! Sorry, sorry! I’m kidding! There won’t be that many... probably .” She watched as Mu crossed her arms and grumbled something to herself, waiting until the silence between them got to be a little too unbearable. “We’ve actually already passed through one, it was on the Mafia’s ship.”

“So?”

“Well, that makes this level two, and we already almost have all the pons we need to get out of here! I could be wrong, but I don’t think this rift will have more than four shells we have to pass through, so if this is the second, then we most likely only have two more to go!”

Mu pursed her lips, expression brightening considerably at the confidence in Hat Kid’s tone. “If you really think so, then I suppose-” she sighed and got up- “we’ll just have to be quick about this, eh? Grab that other rift pon and, uh, do whatever it is you do for us to move on. Should be easy enough for two crime fighting best friends!”

“Yeah!” Hat Kid hopped up excitedly and high-fived Mu, relieved that she was in better spirits now.

“Well, what are you waiting for? Lead the way!”

“Ah- that’s the thing,” Hat Kid frowned and rubbed the back of her head. “I’ve already looked everywhere I can think of down here. All that’s really left is to go up.” 

Mu followed her gaze to the peak of Mafia Town. “Oh, did you already forget how to get up there?” She snickered and lightly jabbed at Hat Kid’s side. “No worries. The way up never changed. Even the stupid Mafia have to use it. You oughta see the look on their faces when they land at the top, ha!”

The two linked hands as Mustache Girl lead the charge, winding through alleyways and scaling walls and steps to make their way up to the observatory deck with the bright red canon Hat Kid had used to get to Mafia HQ just a few hours before. Mu kicked it, making it pop its lid open with a resounding clang, before hopping up the side and standing at the top.

“We have to go one at a time, so I’ll meet you at the top, okay?” 

Hat Kid nodded, and a second later, Mu was being shot out of the cannon and launched high into the air. Hat Kid watched the spec that was her body vanish into a cloud overhead before getting into the cannon herself and quickly following suit. Despite having done it just a few hours before, Hat Kid wasn’t any more used to the cannon than she figured the Mafia men were, so it came as no surprise that her face had that cartoonish stretchy quality to it by the time she landed at the top. Mustache Girl nearly keeled over from laughing so hard, placing a hand on her knee for support as her free hand struggled to stifle even more giggles. Hat Kid stuck out her lower lip, giving her a defiant huff as she stood up shakily and adjusted her crooked hat. How it hadn’t flown off on the way up was a mystery to them both.

"I take it that's our destination." Mu pointed to a large purple tube with bright yellow lights blinking on its side. 

"Yep! That's the door, but," she pulled out the pons she collected to show her their shortage, "we're still missing one. Just finding the door isn't enough. We need rift pons to unlock it."

"So why don't we just ask him for his?"

Hat Kid spun around and looked where she was pointing, exclaiming quietly at the sight of a rift pon being tossed around like a toy. "Oh! That's...one way to do it, yeah."

Mu waited behind as Hat Kid darted up to the kids playing and began trying to negotiate her way into getting the pon. Mu watched with a tight lipped smile at her antics, nearly laughing a few times while Hat Kid performed stunts like flips and making stuff explode. She basically started exhausting her entire arsenal of things that make kids laugh, but Mu lost interest in eavesdropping quick. Instead, her attention shifted to the rest of the playground.

There were multiple swing sets, a merry go round, an obstacle course, and naturally, several slides scattered around the space, each painted in vibrant hues with different, eye catching patterns that let them stand out against the vast blues and whites of the glimmering sky. Kids ran about playing games like tag or hide and seek while others pushed the equipment to their limits. Mus couldn't help but chuckle as she watched a group on the merry go round spin so fast that a few of the children onboarding flew off. 

"I remember doing that," she mused to herself, though the smile she wore had started to fade. "I...miss doing that."

The longer she stared at the bright and exciting scene ahead of her, the duller the place became and the heavier the weight in her chest started to feel. Hat Kid had finally managed to convince the kids to let her "borrow" the rift pon for a bit and was skipping back to Mu with an overjoyed gleam in her eyes as she held it up.

"Look what I got!" 

Mustache Girl didn't register what she'd said in the slightest. Her attention was still locked on the playground and all the kids who were there. She didn't even realize Hat Kid had come back until she'd tapped on her shoulder.

"Wuh- oh, it's just you. Did you get the pon?" Hat Kid nodded and shook the orb in her hand, making it give off a soft jingling noise. "Good job, kid."

“What’s wrong?” Hat Kid clung to the pon tightly as she looked over Mu’s darkened expression.

“It’s nothing,” she muttered, but Hat Kid shook her head.

“It’s something to you.”

Mu stared at her, somewhat surprised to hear her say that, but the kid was right, that much she had to admit. “Hat Kid, outside of this rift thing, how many children have you seen in Mafia Town?”

Hat Kid thought long and hard for a moment. “Just...us?”

She nodded. “And do you see all these kids here now? Want to guess what happened to them? Got any  _ crazy  _ theories about it yet?”

“The Mafia?” She sounded uncertain, but it was the only thing she could guess that would get Mustache Girl so fired up.

“You hit the nail on the head, kid. The Mafia…” Hat Kid watched as her scowl deepened; the creases in her face filled with shadows that she didn’t think a person could have around their eyes. She looked positively sinister. “They showed up on the island one day and just started threatening all of us. If we didn’t do as they said, they’d beat us up! They took people’s money and businesses, and before long they- they started taking lives too!”

“Mu…”

Her hands balled into fists as she looked out at the field of kids playing, blissfully unaware of the future that was in store for them. “Most of us tried to leave. They packed up boats and set sail as soon as they realized the Mafia were too much for us to handle. Even with as stupid as they are, those goons pack a punch! Most of the island couldn’t take that kind of hit. I used to know all of these kids...every one of them...by name too, but,” she hesitated, hugging her arms over her chest as her gaze fell. “The Mafia took them all away! They’re gone now, and I’m all alone on this stupid island because of them!”

“T-took them?!” Hat Kid covered her mouth as her mind swam with imagery she didn’t want to see. 

“If they didn’t manage to escape, or they caused too much ruckus-” she dragged the side of her index finger over her neck, making Hat Kid gasp and back away slightly. “The Mafia only care about themselves, Hat Kid. The town was stupid to have ever let them dock.”

Hat Kid stepped out of Mustache Girl’s way as she stormed past her, only raising her arm to wipe her face off on her sleeve after she was well beyond where Hat Kid stood. She didn’t stop until she reached the rift door, where she finally turned back around and waited for her hatted friend to catch up to her so the two of them could finally leave. She’d had enough of this rift business. She just wanted to go home.

Hat Kid followed as quickly as she could, pulling out the rift pons as she neared the door and stepping back when they lit up and activated. A blinding flash of light poured out of the opened rift door as the rift pons dissipated in the open air. The low humming chatter that had previously blanketed the playground now silenced itself as all eyes turned to them and stared. Hat Kid waved awkwardly, but didn’t gain a single response. All the kids did was stand and stare, and eventually, point. The sound of something falling down the chute made her whip her head back around to the door where she immediately saw that Mustache Girl was gone, already moving on ahead without her. She turned back to the strange scene at the playground once more, wondering what the kid’s had been pointing at, but when she looked back, they were moving once more, as if nothing had ever happened.

Hat Kid shrugged, deciding that whatever it was must not have been important and that maybe she’d even just imagined it. After all, her teachers had always told her that rifts do strange things to people. Seeing things that weren’t there wasn’t all that odd. 

Or so she hoped.


	4. Act 2: Bon Voyage (pt. 1)

Hat Kid rubbed her eyes as the white light faded from around her, officially dropping her into the next level of the rift. The smell of the ocean and the soft patter of rain filled her senses as she took a deep breath and looked out at the dark sky beyond. She was in a tiny alcove on the backside of a beach. The small fire pit in the center had been set ablaze, giving off a faint glow and warmth within the safety of the cave. The only sounds beyond the soft rush of waves against the shore and the falling of the rain was the hushed sobbing coming from the corner of the cave. Hat Kid was silent for a bit, awkwardly wringing out the hem of her shirt as she stared out into the sea. There was a sort of serenity to this side of Mafia Town, quiet and peaceful without the uproar of the Mafia, but in that same vein, it was lonely.

Hat Kid felt the loneliness now.

“Mu,” she began quietly, slowly sitting down beside her and crossing her legs, “are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” Mustache Girl gasped, almost offended, rapidly wiping her eyes as if she thought she could keep Hat Kid from seeing what she’d already seen, but her efforts slowed, and eventually she let her hands rest in her lap as she solemnly shook her head. “Just forget it, Hat Kid. You wouldn’t understand.”

“Well, no? Why would I be able to understand something I wasn’t told,” she huffed and rested her head in her hands. “Why are you crying all of a sudden? What happened?”

Mustache Girl looked at her, her irritated expression softening after a moment of contemplation. It seemed that whatever was wrong went deeper than she cared to outwardly admit, but she spoke nonetheless. “Back in that first level, where it wasn’t raining like it is now...those...people who were  _ right here _ , those were my parents.” 

Hat Kid looked somewhat surprised, but less by the information and more by the despairing way Mu delivered her words. “I don’t...understand. Why are you saying that like it’s a bad thing? That looked like it’d be a happy memory!”

“It...was.” Her lip trembled as she cast her gaze to the floor, pulling her knees against her chest so she could hide her dismal expression from view. “It was our last happy memory...before the Mafia came.” She took a shuddering breath, hugging her knees tighter as her eyebrows knitted and her expression darkened. “It was a rainy day like this one-”

“Is that really how you’re gonna start a story?”

“Shut up. Do you want to hear it or not?”

Hat Kid huffed and sat back quietly, listening to the low roll of thunder overhead as she waited for Mu to continue.

“As I was saying, it was a rainy day like this one. My parents were at home with me, just watching television, completely normal family stuff, you know? But then, all of a sudden, someone started pounding on the door. My dad answered it. I could hear them fighting, but I don’t remember what they said. Honestly I’m not sure I even heard, but what I do know, is that the next day, he and my mother left.” 

She wiped her eyes forcibly, anger swelling in her aching lungs as she recalled the rest of her tale. Hat Kid’s silence was now more from shock than politeness, but she was silent nonetheless.

“They had...told me it was another job. My parents worked for the Mafia once they came here. My father was a mechanic. My mom was a cook! A good one at that too, not like these Mafia goons. But…” she hesitated, “they worked on ships. So any time they had to leave for work, I knew they’d be gone for a long time. They still said they’d come back soon… They still haven’t come…”

Hat Kid watched her fold in on herself, a confused expression crossing her own face. “Maybe it was just a big job? My parents sometimes leave for months.”

Mustache Girl looked at her with surprise evident in her teary eyes, but whatever shock her words had given her faded as quickly as they had come.

“Ha,” her voice broke as a weak and cynical laugh broke free. “Don’t you get it, Hat Kid?” She wiped the tears from her cheeks and looked the other girl dead in the eye. “They’re not coming back. They’re  _ never _ coming back!”

“How can you be so sure?”

“It’s been three years.”

Ah. There it was. Hat Kid’s expression fell as her shoulders drooped. She should have seen it coming all things considered. Mu had seemed alone for as long as she’d known her. Why did she only now realize that was odd?

“Do you know what happened to them?”

“Ha, I wish,” she snorted and wiped her eyes again, flashing her purple friend a tired smile. “They just vanished, and no one can tell me why. I’m POSITIVE that smelly Boss of the Mafia has something to do with it though! He  _ has _ to!”

“What makes you think he does,” she asked, almost in horror at the furious glare in Mu’s eyes.

“I- I don’t know!” She huffed and crossed her arms. “But he controls everything on the island. He’s the reason everything here is stupid and smelly- I bet he was the one who made them take that job! Maybe he even made sure they couldn’t come back!”

Hat Kid smiled awkwardly and nodded at Mustache Girl’s conspiracy theories, realizing pretty quickly that no matter what she said, Mu wasn’t going to believe any different. There could have been mountains of evidence stacked in Mafia Boss’s favor, and she was still certain Mu would say it was his fault.

“Everything would be better if he was just gone.” Hat Kid jumped as she tuned back in just in time to hear Mustache Girl’s tone darken. “But I don’t have any proof, and even if I did…”

Hushed rainfall and the lapping of waves against the shore filled the silence between them as they reflected on her words. If Mu was right about Mafia Boss, Hat Kid was a little afraid to find out what he’d done to her friend’s parents. But even if they found out, it’d probably be a hollow victory. There didn’t seem to be any law in Mafia Town aside from the Mafia’s Law, and they probably wouldn’t arrest their boss and leave town just because a couple of kids found out he did yet another terrible deed. Still, Hat Kid didn’t like knowing Mu was feeling so down, especially not while they were trapped in a rift.

“Hey,” she smiled and patted the back of her hand, “us kids stick together, right?”

Mu looked up at her quizzically, but broke out in a smile at the promise. Though her grin was quickly replaced by a frustrated grimace as Hat Kid threw her arms around her and forced her into a hug. “ACK- Wha- Hat Kid! Let go!”

Mu fought her off, gently prying her arms away and panting when she’d finally released her and sat back down with a smug smile plastered to her face. As much as the blonde would deny it, Hat Kid knew her defiant huff and crossed arms were just a facade. Even if it was deep down, she was certain Mustache Girl felt better after that. The smile threatening to tug at the corners of her mouth confirmed it.

“You know,” she began quietly at first, uncertain that she should say what she was thinking out loud, “when we get out of here, I could maybe help you look for info on your parents. If Mafia Boss really had something to do with them disappearing, I bet we could make him talk.” She smiled sinisterly, giving her umbrella a few hearty pats, much to Mu’s amusement. “I already kicked his butt once! A second time should be easy!”

“I like your style, hat kid!” Mustache Girl rose to her feet, looking reenergized and infinitely more cheerful than she had a moment before. “Well, why are you just sitting there,” she scoffed. “Get up. Aren’t you going to make some sort of plan to get us out of here?”

Hat Kid shook her head, frowning slightly at the question as she clambered to her feet and dusted the sand off her clothes. “The rift doors are the only way out of each level, and each of those needs pons. I wish there was an easier way to do it, but all we can really do is look around until we’ve found them all.”

“Uuugh- fiine. We do it the old fashioned way then! At least you’ve got an umbrella!”

The two of them shared a grin as Hat Kid popped her umbrella out, held it up, and teasingly waved Mu under it with an exaggerated bow. Mu rolled her eyes at the gesture but swiftly complied, both girls breaking out into big grins and muffled fits of laughter at the absurdity of it all. 


	5. Act 2: Bon Voyage (pt. 2)

A low roll of thunder echoed in the distance, softly muffled by the patter of rain against damp sand and the crash of waves against the rocks along the shore. A bright blue umbrella adorned with yellow stars bobbed up and down along the beach, barely shielding the two taking shelter beneath it. The cheerful atmosphere that had momentarily been recovered was now as soaked as they were, and morale was already wearing thin.

“I wish the rift could have given us better weather at least,” Hat Kid groaned. “Why does it have to simulate storms so well?”

“You know, if you hadn’t told me what this place was, I’d really think it was real.” Mu glanced at her before crossing her arms and shivering. “It certainly  _ feels _ real. Although…”

A silence pervaded the air around them as they spilled into the marketplace. It was barren and desolate, almost as if it hadn’t been fully assembled yet. A few stalls littered the back wall, but none were furnished or decorated in the least. Identifying what they were meant to sell was nigh impossible in their current state. Hat Kid secretly wondered if they’d gone back so far that the market didn’t quite exist yet, but the puzzled look on Mustache Girl’s face said that probably wasn’t it.

“Where is everyone?” She stepped out from beneath the umbrella, running her fingers across the cold wooden tabletops and wincing at how familiar and completely new they felt to her. “I’ve never seen this place so empty.”

“Maybe it’s because it’s raining?”

She shook her head quickly. “Nuh uh. No way! Rainy days are the  _ best _ market days. The rain keeps it cool and makes the fish smell, well, less. Everyone knows that, Hat Kid.” She rolled her eyes, momentarily forgetting that she wasn’t from around there. “Er, anyway. It’s odd. That’s all I’m trying to say.”

Hat Kid lowered her umbrella for a moment, resting the tip against the ground to give her arms a break as she too took in her surroundings. It was true that she’d never seen Mafia Town so bleak and dreary, even on a rainy day, but at the same time, it wasn’t all that strange for a rift.

“It’s probably fine, Mu,” she said reassuringly. “If I’m being honest, it’s actually more weird that the first level had so many people. Rifts are usually pretty empty like this since they only show what’s important. This is better though! Now if we run into people, we’ll know we’re on the right path!”

“Oh, really?” She seemed momentarily surprised but quickly shrugged it off. “Well then, I guess we’d best look elsewhere, huh? No sense wasting time here.”

Hat Kid couldn’t even get a word in before Mustache Girl took off, hopping up and balancing on the railing as she waited for her to catch up. From building to building, the two of them hopped, rarely managing to stay under the umbrella long enough to stay dry. It wasn’t long before they abandoned it, making little games out of who could find the driest spots to stand while they searched. Luck didn't seem to be on their side though as they rounded the area in search of the pons, or at least, it wasn’t until Mu spoke up again.

“Y’know, if these rift places like to hide these pon things, maybe we shouldn’t be looking, well, y’know, in plain sight?” She crossed her arm over her chest and placed her other hand on her chin while she thought. “There’s this secret cave thing near the beach. Oh! There’s also my secret treasure stash!”

“Secret...treasure stash?” Hat Kid kicked a rock into a nearby puddle before glancing up at her curiously.

“Yuh! You have to activate these two buttons at the same time to get to it! I made sure it was Mafia proof. Those lugs still haven’t figured it out, ha!”

“I guess it’s worth a shot,” Hat Kid mused, smiling at Mu’s triumph with that weary smile one would give a younger sibling. “Where is it anyway?”

“Follow me!”

Hat Kid sighed and shook her head, the grin never faltering as she put her umbrella back up and trailed behind her energetic friend. It was nice to see her so pumped up again, but keeping up with her was quickly becoming a chore. Mustache Girl knew every nook and cranny of Mafia Town, including all the shortcuts, and Hat Kid was learning the hard way that she would get a work out as long as Mu was in the lead. Thank the gods that her little treasure stash wasn’t actually that far away.

“M-Mu…” she panted, wheezing as she gripped the slick wall beside her and leaned against it for support. “Slow down...h…”

“No need, Hat Kid,” she propped her foot up on one of two buttons sitting before them, “we’re here!”

Hat Kid looked down at the set up before them. Two red and yellow buttons sat a few feet apart, just far enough that the mafia couldn’t possibly reach the other while standing on one. It was an absurdly simple contraption though, and both girls giggled a bit as Hat Kid put it together in her head.

“They really haven’t been able to solve this?”

“I know, right?!” She cackled and slapped her knee. “What a bunch of losers, huh?”

“All they’d have to do is move a chair over or something!”

“Exactly! But they’re all chest and shoulder. There’s nothin’ up top, if you know what I mean.”

Hat Kid nodded, stifling another laugh as she hopped onto the second button. Mu stepped on hers a moment after, a loud click signalling that they had activated the mechanism hiding Mu’s treasure. And sure enough, not a minute later, a bright red chest rose from beneath a concrete slab, dust pouring off of it in muddies clumps as the rain washed it away. Mu leapt off her button, quickly diving to be the one who opened the chest, and grinned widely as a bright light filtered out from beneath the barely opened lid.

“Got one,” she cheered excitedly, waving the rift pon in front of Hat Kid’s face until she took it and stored it beneath her hat for safe keeping. “Goes to show what a bit of teamwork and my excellent navigating skills can accomplish, eh?”

Hat Kid nodded and smiled brightly as Mustache Girl reveled in her tiny triumph, but their victory was swiftly interrupted by a sudden clanging resounding off to their right.

“What’s that sound?”

Mu scrunched her face up and listened. “It sounds like it’s coming from the docks.”

Both girls froze in place, the cold from the rain seeping into their skin and settling in their bones. Loud shouts, the scraping of metal, and several heavy thuds tore through the hush of the storm brewing overhead. Hat Kid held a finger to her lips and started to creep towards the noise, the soft stepping of her feet obscured by the crash of waves around them. Mustache Girl showed no hesitation in following, crouching down behind her hatted friend and waiting until they came to a stop to speak.

“What’s going on over there? I can’t see around your stupid hat.”

Hat Kid shushed her once more before peeking around the corner of the rock they’d stopped behind. “There are people loading up a boat.”   
“It’s the docks,” she rolled her eyes and groaned. “Be more specific. What are they loading?”

“I-I don’t know? I can’t really see from here.”

“Well then,” Mu stepped out beside her, rolling up her soaked sleeves as a mischievous look crossed her features. “I guess we’ll just have to take a closer look then, won’t we?”

“Wh- Mu! Wait-” Hat Kid reached out to stop her, but only succeeded in grasping air. It was with a heavy sigh and annoyed expression that she rose to her feet, shaking her head as she followed suit. “This can’t be a good thing.”


	6. Act 2: Bon Voyage (pt. 3)

There were so many people there, way more than Hat Kid had initially thought. Burly men were hauling crates, barrels, and sacks that probably weighed more than they did, their chorus of grunting mingling with shouted orders and the pouring of the rain. She was careful to keep her distance from the moving crews, dodging their paths and ducking and jumping when she inevitably fell near them anyway. It was no surprise that she lost sight of Mu in all the commotion, but it was still frustrating.

“Mu,” she whispered harshly, trying not to draw attention to herself. “Mu, where’d you go?”

“Hat Kid! Up here! Look what I found!!” Mu waved to her, half sticking out of a little porthole window with a smile wide and innocent.

Hat Kid couldn’t help but groan. As relieved as she was to see her again, she wasn’t sure how she felt about her running off on a boat being loaded for departure. What if it had left? Then what would they have done?

“You’re supposed to stay with me,” she chided in a hushed voice, taking her hands and allowing Mu to pull her up and through the window where she promptly tumbled inside and landed on top of her. “Oof- ok, what did you find? We need to get out of here quickly.”

“Shh, shh, I know that!” She rolled her eyes and held up her hands, but I saw one of those door thingies. You know, like the purple tube thing we jumped through to get here!”

Hat Kid didn’t even have to ask the obvious question before Mu was wordlessly leading her over to a set of stairs leading up, ducking off to the side of the entranceway so they wouldn’t be seen before pointing. Sure enough, Hat Kid could see the corner of something that resembled a rift door, but between all the people walking past and all the cargo they were loading up, she couldn’t get a clear view of it from where they were at.

“It had a funny light over it and everything,” she continued. “But it was shut tight. I couldn’t get it to budge, and I didn’t want to get caught.”

“That light should have been a number.”

“Oh, well...it might have been.” She rubbed the back of her head and smiled sheepishly. “I wasn’t really paying attention to it at the time.”

Hat Kid sighed deeply. Holding that against Mu wasn’t really fair all things considered. She’d seen one rift door in her whole life, and that was just a few moments before. “It’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” She smiled politely, taking her hand and leading her back down the steps while she spoke. “We’ll find out exactly how many we need later, but right now we already have one pon, so I’d say we’re doing a pretty good job so far!”

“Yeah,” Mu cheered and glanced around the hold. “This is almost criminally easy. We’re so good at this, those pon things are practically dropping into our laps.”

The boat lurched suddenly, knocking both girls off their feet and onto the floor as a few boxes and supplies dropped around them. And then, lo and behold, a shining, shimmering orb was displaced from the rafters along with a couple of suitcases full of clothing, all of which dumped themselves out onto and between the two girls. The lights flickered as a clap of thunder shook the whole boat, only making its rocking that much more frightening. They both shrieked and scrambled to find each other, bonking heads at least twice before the lights came back and they calmed down, breaking into giggles at each other's ridiculous appearances.

“You have pants on your head.”

“Yeah well you have someone's boxers.”

“EW EW EW-”

“Haha! St-stop flailing! Let me help-” 

Hat Kid crawled forward a bit, plucking off everything that had fallen onto Mu as she tried to stifle her giggling. She’d just pulled the last sock out of her hood when her other hand brushed against something smooth on the floor. Curiously, she shifted the clothing pile they’d accidentally accumulated out of the way, eyes widening as she found the pon underneath.

“Huh,” Mu blinked in surprise while adjusting her hood. “See? What’d I’d tell you? They’re falling from the sky for us now, haha!”

Hat Kid tucked the pon away for safekeeping, taking Mu’s hand after she’d gotten up and offered to help her do the same. After brushing themselves off, the two made their way back up to the steps, heading out into the hallway and over to the arch that had been partially obstructing their view before. They were both simultaneously surprised and not surprised to discover they’d left the docks and set sail, now very much out in the rough waters of the storm.

Mu stared out at the ship for a long time, a solemn silence falling over her as her eyes slowly scanned the deck. “You know,” she whispered after a moment, her voice higher and shakier than usual. “This boat looks a lot like the one in gramp’s photos.”

“Oh?”

“It looks like the one my parents used to work on.”

The rain and creaking of the ship were the only sounds for a good while. Waves beat against the side of the boat. The wind tugged at the sails. Hat Kid caught herself staring at Mu for far longer than she’d meant to, but it didn’t seem like she had noticed.

“Ah well,” she laughed after a bit, shaking her head and putting her hands on her hips as her smile returned. “All these boats look the same! What are the chances it’d be theirs? Anyway, the rift door is over here!”

She took off again, staying just a short distance ahead of Hat Kid before ducking into an empty crate laying on its side. They had the perfect view of the rift door from there without having to stand in the storm.

“So, we only need four pons?”

“And we’ve already got two,” Hat Kid nodded in confirmation.

“Well then, this should be easy! We just search the ship, don’t get caught, and be back at the door ASAP. What could go wrong?”

“Hm...I don’t know. It  _ does _ sound easy enough. Still, I don’t like this.” Hat Kid whimpered as she rubbed her arms, brows knitted as she glanced out at the darkening sky. “Rifts only make so much space, and they don’t always loop. Sometimes they just...drop off into a void. And if this boat is heading towards one, then…”

“Aw, cheer up, Hat Kid!” Mu slapped her on the back, twirling her mustache in her finger as she beamed confidently. “We’re already like pros at this! With the two of us together, this’ll be a breeze! We’ll just be fast!”

“Speed isn’t the only problem though,” she protested, her worry seeping into her tone. “What if there were more pons around town? We barely searched there!”

“Oh, relax, Hat Kid,” Mu dismissed her thoughts. “This is just a delivery boat. It’ll make its way back to town eventually.”

“But it may not! We have no way of knowing where this boat is heading! And if it goes too far, we might not be able to go back at all!”

“So?” Mu shook her head, not really understanding her point. “You’re a time traveler. Can’t you just undo all this?” Hat Kid was deathly silent, eyes locked dead on Mu’s as her expression darkened. “Hat Kid-” her own voice shook, the confidence it once carried draining away along with the color on her face. “What happens if we don’t get enough pons?”

“We can’t leave.”

“And if the ship falls into some void thing?”

“We…” She lowered her head, desperate not to have to say it, not that she needed to anyway. Mu understood from the look in her eyes alone.

“Well, it’s ok! That’s not going to happen to us,” she cheered excitedly, taking Hat Kid’s hand and flashing another smile. “We’re a crime fighting, rift traveling duo! A little rain and a few pons won’t stop us from finding our way through!”

Despite the abrupt turn for the dark they’d faced there, it seemed to Hat Kid that Mu’s spirits were high and unhindered by the daunting reality of their situation, but the older girl’s unwavering confidence and optimism made it exceedingly hard for her to drown in her own worries. They would be fine as long as they worked together. She was sure of it.


End file.
